Week 10 of the college football schedule was not kind to the Florida Gators. In fact, the sports gods were downright cruel to the Orange and Blue over the course of the 34-20 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs in Jacksonville.
After [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag]’s squad came out strong both on offense and defense, the absolute worst-case scenario occurred — true freshman quarterback [autotag]DJ Lagway[/autotag], who is replacing incumbent starter [autotag]Graham Mertz[/autotag], went down with an injury that ended the game and possibly the season for the former five-star recruit.
Third-string walk-on QB [autotag]Aidan Warner[/autotag] did his best to pace the Gators on offense while the defense continued its dominant afternoon, but alas, it was not enough to outlast the deep UGA talent pool.
The good news is that the media appears to have judged Florida on a sliding scale based on their performance rather than just the cold, hard results. This includes ESPN’s SP+ ranking, which employs a computer model to determine its standings each week.
Florida football’s SP+ ranking, rating
Last update, Napier and Co. were ranked No. 21 out of 134 Football Bowl Subdivision schools with a 13.0 overall rating following its Week 9 bye. Following Saturday’s results, Florida slipped five spots to No. 26 with an 11.5 overall rating.
On offense, the team inched up a spot from No. 21 and a 35.3 rating to No. 20 and a 34.4 rating; the defense remained at No. 41 while its rating increased from 22.7 to 23.2.
The special teams unit, which spent a few weeks as the top-rated corps in the country at the start of the schedule, somehow jumped back up from No. 11 to No. 4 with a 0.4 rating — the same it has had all season — despite a major field goal attempt mishap.
SP+ rankings top 10 teams
The Ohio State Buckeyes claimed the top spot in the rankings this week, edging out the Texas Longhorns, who held the pole position last week, by just 0.3 points (29.0 vs. 28.7); Georgia, the Ole Miss Rebels and Oregon Ducks round out the top five, respectively.
The Alabama Crimson Tide come in at No. 6, followed by the Miami Hurricanes, Penn State Nittany Lions, Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Tennessee Volunteers, respectively, to round out the top 10 schools.
About SP+ predictions
“SP+ is intended to be predictive and forward-facing,” according to ESPN. “It is not a résumé ranking that gives credit for big wins or particularly brave scheduling — no good predictive system is.
“It is simply a measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football. If you’re lucky or unimpressive in a win, your rating will probably fall. If you’re strong and unlucky in a loss, it will probably rise.”
What’s next for the Gators?
Florida hits the road to face Texas in Austin on Saturday, Nov. 9. Kickoff is set for noon ET and will be broadcast on ABC.
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